


Forgotten

by Fidollwa



Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Blood, Body Horror, Lewis Isn't Having A Good Time™, brief amnesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:15:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24708193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fidollwa/pseuds/Fidollwa
Summary: As two poor souls were busy being rushed away to the closest hospital, one more got left behind.Lewis doesn’t quite understand what just happened or where he even is. Left to his own devices, he makes some rather uncomfortable revelations in the meantime.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38





	Forgotten

The first thing Lewis was aware of was the cold. Deep, numbing cold that he couldn't get away from now matter how hard he tried. The only thing that managed to get past that coldness was the steady ache in his chest. 

Something was wrong with him. 

The light from his torch and their flashlights were long gone, did they leave him down here? Or worse, were they stuck with him? Regardless he could hardly even see his own hands at first. When Lewis called out his only answer was silence. The only thing left for him to do was try and wander around in the dark, hands outstretched. He couldn't see anything, let alone an exit.

He had turned towards the center of the room when his hands brushed against something that wasn't cool rock. Cloth of some kind. It was tacky, sticky with something not quite dry yet. Lewis frowned and tried to figure out what the object was. It was cool and seemed to connect to a stalagmite but had more give and-

Lewis froze. Dread and nausea welled up so suddenly he might throw up. This was a person. Or more accurately a body since no one living would be this cold to the touch. The sticky liquid on his fingers became all the more apparent. Oh _god_.

Abruptly he fell back, chest heaving as Lewis desperately tried to rub off the blood on his hands. The darkness became all the more confining as he called out for help with renewed desperation. Someone was already dead down here and he might be close behind if he couldn't get. His cries fell on deaf ears. The echoes petered out and only his rapid breathing broke the silence. 

Calm down, had to calm down. 

The dread only seemed to pool in his gut as Lewis considered the other person in the room with him. He hadn't heard Vivi or Arthur since waking up. He knew they wouldn't leave him behind willingly. Had... had Lewis fallen? Arthur had been up there with him, right?

Not able to hold it back any longer, Lewis rolled to his side and dry heaved. Nothing came up but it wasn't much comfort. Had he been touching one of his friends corpses?

He had to know.

Lewis shakily groped his way across the floor in the vague direction the corpse was. Still nearly blind but his eyes were starting to adjust at least. Enough to tell the difference between the cave floor and blood pool before he stuck his hand in it again. Lewis drew back from the still shiny puddle, eyes trailing up the stalagmite. In the oppressive blackness he was just able to get some vague outlines of the person. The figure was impaled. Definitely too tall to be Vivi.

Squinting against the dark, Lewis reached a shaky hand up and jumped slightly when he hit their unmoving shoulder. Was this Arthur? Carefully, trying to touch them as little as possible, he traced his fingers over towards the head. This person's shoulders seemed too wide to be Arthur. Did they miss another person somehow?

His mind stalled as he reached the person's face. It was stiff, cold. Familiar. Mind running blank Lewis finally reached their hair. 

His hair.

This was him. Lewis was touching his own corpse. 

His screams reverberated around in the cave, trapped in the dark. 

\----

Eventually he could see a bit better. Not that he made much use of it really, staring at the floor as he was. Lewis had fallen in a heap mere feet away from the body, hands in his hair and staring firmly downward. 

He didn't- couldn't look at the body. 

It was just _the body_. It couldn't be _his_ body because he was right here. Lewis was still right here.

His breaths came in short, panicked gasps. This couldn't be real. Lewis didn't even remember what had happened. 

Long after the panic had passed Lewis still made a conscious effort to breathe. He didn't know what he would do if he discovered he didn't need to anymore.

\----

The cold was still there.

It didn't ease up in the slightest despite what felt like hours passing. Lewis tried to count out the seconds to keep track of time but that just made it feel all the slower. 

_Don’t turn around. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it._

Where was the rescue party?

\----

Bits and pieces came back to him. Gradual but frustratingly slow. 

The memory of coming upon the cliff felt faraway but the vertigo from looking over the edge was real enough. Lewis had been peering down and even beckoned Arthur over. He must've slipped then. What an ending, to come a supposedly haunted cave and die from his own two left feet.

Why did that thought not feel right?

\----

It was some time later before he could bring himself to stand. Lewis couldn't just sit here. By now he was able to see the entirety of the cavern but it wasn't clear if it was from his eyes adjusting or the odd glow the place seemed to take on now. Not turning around, he started searching. 

He might be stuck here but Lewis wanted to make sure the others had made it out. Thankfully, there wasn't any sign of anyone else here. The ramp leading upwards was also a bonus. 

As he ascended, the fog and glow seemed to thin and dissipate. Lewis came upon the ledge he'd fallen off of and was hit with a bout of vertigo. Maybe he'll stay away from that for now, actually. That was the plan at least until he spotted the dull, red puddle on the floor. Lewis took a half step back and just stared. That was nearly as big as the one around the body below. What the hell happened up here? 

Biting his lip, Lewis stepped forward. Someone was injured pretty severely. Tracks and smears only spread the blood about even more. A struggle maybe? Was that at the same time he went over the edge? Maybe that was why the rescue team wasn't coming? 

The clack at his feet had Lewis looking down. It was the torch he'd been carrying back when they were exploring the cave. Not thinking much about it, he bent down and picked it up. 

Suddenly the memory slotted in place and just as quickly Lewis dropped it again. He remembered looking over the edge but he didn't slip. He remembered calling Arthur over but the man didn't say anything. He remembered a hand at his back and a push and a rush of air-

With a clatter the torch bounced off the edge and fell to the cavern floor below.

\----

There had be another explanation. 

Arthur was (had been) his best friend. The guy didn't even like killing spiders for god's sake how could he- 

Lewis forcefully shook his head. 

Sure the guy had been quiet lately but that didn't mean anything, did it? Arthur was always a guy who kept his worries to himself. There were too many times to count where he or Vivi had to pry out what was bothering the man. Lewis wracked his brain, searching desperately for a why when there was none. 

On the drive over Lewis kept catching Arthur staring at the two of them, situated in the front. It was a longing, far away kind of look. At the time Lewis didn't think much of it. He had resolved to talk to him about it later, anyway, after the cave investigation.

But later never came because Arthur had _murdered him_.

Maybe it wasn't on purpose. Maybe Arthur just tripped? Maybe he was trying to pull him back away from the edge and just... pushed him?

No. No if he was remembering this right, he wasn't in danger of falling. Arthur had snuck up behind him, didn't call out, and he pushed him. Lewis's hands clenched, betrayal and anger and confusion all competing in his head. And then there was the huge puddle of blood on the cave ledge. Had someone seen what had happened? Did they try to subdue Arthur maybe? It hit him then that Lewis couldn’t be sure it was Arthur’s blood at all. If he had pushed Lewis off the edge who’s to say he didn’t try to continue?

The thought had him furious. Friend or not, if Arthur had hurt Vivi Lewis was going to make him regret it. This cave had nothing else for except more questions anyways. Nothing to suggest a motive, no answers as to why Lewis had to die. 

The more he thought about it the more Lewis found he didn't much care. Whatever the reason Lewis had to make sure this stopped. Lewis was going to be the only casualty here regardless of Arthur’s reasons why.

As he stalked out of the cave, the moon hung full and high in the sky. The area was deserted. No one was coming to get him and no one likely would any time soon. Lewis was dead and his body had been left to rot in a cave just off the path of a hiking trail. 

Forgotten. 

But not for long.

At least he wasn't cold anymore.


End file.
